William Atkins
Wednesday, 01 October 2008 19:57
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 2
NASA has announced a new contest to test the imaginations and skills of college students by designing tools and instrument packages that one day could help Moon rovers travel across the lunar surface.
NASA wants students to
“design tools and instrumentation packages for the next generation manned moon rover.”
The project will challenge students with a real-life situation: to design tools and instruments needed for a successful manned lunar mission.
The October 30, 2008 article “
NASA Challenges Students To Design Tools For Moon Rovers,” which announced the contest, states,
“Moon explorers will need to navigate in darkness around the moon's south pole and collect lunar regolith, or moon dust, for on-site analysis and radiation detection.”
It continues,
“They will need to communicate with Earth, a lunar outpost and spacecraft orbiting the moon. Moon inhabitants also will conduct video surveys of the moon's surface for transmission back to Earth, and practice rescue and the safe return of astronauts to their outpost from sorties.”
Consequently, NASA is challenging all full-time students enrolled in accredited post-secondary institutions (such as universities, colleges, trade schools, community colleges, and professional schools) in the United States or its territories.
NASA states that the contest can be entered as an individual or as a team. NASA officials are encouraging team members to enter from several departments from one institution and, even, various institutions.
What will the winning students receive and where do you sign up? Please read page two.
